Pressing machine



Juy 9, 1935..V 1 E. SIMON RMULSH 'PREssING MACHINE Filed OGL.Y 29, 1934 2 SheetS-Sheet l INVENTOR. fr z5'. /Mo/v.

ATTORNEYS.

July 9,1935. ,ESMON 2,007,816

PREssING MACHINE Filed Oct. 29, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1NVENTOR. f ff E .5f/10m BQLMJME ATTORNEYS.r

Patented July 9, 1935 I l .I f 'I lSimon;'lerilforiib Ind., assigner to W. F. Meyers Company, Inc.,'Bedi"ord, 1nd., a corporationV Y Applicationfoctober :29, 1934-, serial Nc.' 5150.428

' l" 3 ciaims'. (orcs-9) y This invention relates yto a pressing machine and has for its object the production of a machine adapted to press a large number of garments or similar articles in a given'time and Vwhich is simple and inexpensive in construction and operation.V To that end the invention comprises a-machine having a cooperating platen and pressingrshoe,V a conveyor adapted to move the articles to be pressed from a `receiving stationto apress-Y ing'position between thelshoe and'platen and thence toa :delivery station,V together with the necessary inechanicalapparatus for operating the pressing shoewand conveyor in timed relation. ',On feature of the invention resides in the co- `operation of the'conveyor and platenV and shoe by i means of which the vworlris rapidly fed to the 'pressing position, pressed and removed there-r from.V ,4

` 'Another feature jof the invention resides in a novel form of drive connection forgthe' conveyor by means of Vwhich the con'veyoris positively advanced but is left free for independent movement during the pressing operation." i f Anotherieature ofV the'inventiongresides in the mechanism provided for operatingl the 'pressing shoe jby means of which the weight of the shoe assists in the pressing operation andgso, reduces the peak loadon the'mot'or used for moving the shoe. I 1

Another feature of the invention resides in the .-,fact that the conveyor and shoe are operated from a 'single`powersource in timed relation in'a series flauto'matically repeatedY cycles. No action `by d the operator, is required to initiate anew cycle upon thecompletion 'of a previous cycle. The

, only work required of the operators isto arrange thegoods upon the receivingend of the conveyor duringithe pressing operation and to remove'the VVpressed articles fromV the delivery 'end when pressedgf f l l i Other objects and features of the invention will be 'understood from the accompanying drawings and the followingl specification and claims:

Figfl a plan viewcf Vthe pressing machine in one'of itspreferredforms; Fig'. 2`is aV rear elevational view of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional View on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.` Fig. e is an elevational view of certain cam mechanismA and linkageV used Ifor operating the pressing shoe. VvFig. 5

angles to Fig. 4. Fig. Gis ,a perspective view of one; of -thev members shown'rin Figs. 54 and 5.V

Figj'is a perspective view of acam used inthe controll of the conveyor movements. f- Fig-8v is a 555 planview'on'a reducedscale ofa machineinoppressing shoe'l IB. vThe said bolts are provided the L channel 1 members I I..

is elevational viewjofthe same shown at right erationshowing one arrangement of operators' stations and work receivers bymeans of which rapid operation is secured.V Fig. 9 is a fragmentaryelevational view of a ratchet and Vpavvl mechanism used for advancing the conveyor. 5

The stationary frame of the machine shown by wayfoffillustration inthe drawings consists of a box-like sub-structure I uponV which there are secured Vtwo longitudinal channel members II.

A plate I2 resting vupon the upper surfaces of the channel; members II carries a resilient pad or platen I3. The substructure I0 is provided with a pair lof upwardlyiextending brackets I4 upon theupper end of which there is pivotally mounted aV rocker arm I5. The said rocker arm projects l5 above the platen and has pivotally secured thereto aV plate I 6. Bolts I1 pass loosely through suitable holes in' the Yplate IB and threadedly engagea withcompression springs I9 engaging the upper surface'of the plate .IBVand the undersurfaces of the boltheads and thus resiliently supporting`-the pressing shoe I8 upon the plate I6 but permitting limited relative movement between said shoey and plate. YVIt'will be seen that thepressing shoe I8 ispositioned abovejthe platen and may cooperate therewith to press articles placed between the v platen andfshoe. The shoe may be heated' by any welleknownmeansgjsuch as an electrical re-` sistancejelement enclosed within the same, or by 30 a method of steam heating,4 neither of which is shownin the drawings. i The outer ends of the channel members II Y carry bearing brackets 20 which rotably support a pairoflcon'veyor rollers 2I. A conveyor, 'consist- 5 ing preferably of a` flexible belt22 of canvas or similar material, is trained about therollers 2 I. Thewupper run` of said belt passes betweenvthe platen and y pressing shoeV while, thevlower run j thereof passes beneath the'platen andbetween 40 n Cross pieces 23 .car ried upon thechannel members II support plates 24 in turn supporting the conveyor belt through that portion of the upper Vrun Where the beltwis is not supported `by the platen.` Y 45 Partially enclosed within the sub-structureA I0 therer'is "an electric motor 25 mounted upon a sliding base 26 vwhose position may be adjusted by a hand wheel 2'I in aAwell-known manner.- The motor carries a pulley 28 herein shown as the wellknown adjustable diameter type of pulley used forvaryingspeed operation. A belt 29 is trained about the pulley 28 and about a pulley 30 carried bythe wormshaftof a worm gear unit 3| mount-l ed withinthe sub-structure I0. The worm wheel' 55 in Fig. 6.

of said unit is mounted on a shaft 32 which carries at one end a cam33 and at its opposite end a cam disc 34, best illustrated in'Figs. 4 and 5. Thus, the motor 25 rotates the cam 33 and the cam disc 34 and the speed of rotation thereof may be vvaried by varying the position of the motor base 26.

The cam disc 34 carries upon its opposite faces irregularly shaped cams 35 and w346.v A follower in the'shape of a-roller 31 operates upon the surface of the cam 35, and a similar follower roller 44 operates upon the cam 36. are carried upon the two arms 4I and 42 respec,I tively of a bifurcated member 38 shown in detail The said memberjis provided with a hub 39 pivotally mounted `upon the substructure il! by a pivot pin 40 and the arm 42 of said member is provided with a downwardly .extendingpore tion 43 carrying the roller cam follower .44. The cams 35 and 36 are so shaped that the blfurcated' member 38 in rocked uponits pivotal mounting as the shaft 32 is rotated. t., W' Y. ,"A link 45 has one endpivotally 4connected. by means of a pin 46 to theA arm 42 and the opposite 4end thereof is .pivotally connected by means ofY a pin 41 to the lower end ,ofan L-shaped rocker arm 48. Thefrocker arm 48 is pivotally mounted `upon the bearing brackets I4 at 49. Arlink 5 6, adjustable as to length, is connected at its upper end to the rocker arm `I5 by a.l pivot pin 5| and at its lower end Vto `the rockerarm 48 by a pin 52. l '.'ByV means of the construction just described, when`t-he member `38 is moved downwardly, the varm 42 and the link 45 approach a substantially aligned position as shown in Fig. 3. In this position the pressing shoe is pressed Y,downwardly against the garments uponA the conveyor beneath the shoe. Due to the alignment of the arm 42 and link 45, a toggle .action isobtained which gives Va large pressure upon the Work with a small expenditure of power. The amount of said pressure may be Vadjusted by Varying the length-of the link 50.. It will also be, apparent that when the member 38 is raised by the cam 35, thealignment of the link 45.,.andthe arm 42 is broken and the pressing shoe is quickly raised'from thevwork.. v

The downward movement of the pressing shoe into engagement with theV work is produced largely by its own weight whenthe roller 31rreaches an arcuatev portion 53.of the cax'n35. During this movement, the roller 31 rides on the arcuate portion 53 of Ythe cam 35 and thus controls the gravity drop of the shoe. When the roller` 44 has reached a shoulder 55 on the cam 36 the shoe has engaged the Work.l Thereupon, `the additional pressure for pressing the work is supplied by a portion 56 of the cam 36 engaging'the roller 44 andforcing the sameY downwardly an additional distance torsecure the Valignment of the arm 42 and the link 45. The upward vmovement of the shoe, since it is caused by simply breaking a tog-v gle joint, requiresy avery small peak powerV load and, since the lowering of the shoe is largely ac complished by gravity, the peak power load on the motor is relativelyrsmall, The cam 33, shown in detailjn Fig. 'Licooperates with a cam fo1lower-51 vcarried upon a lever arrn 58 pivotally Vmounted upon the substructure I0. The upper end of the lever 58 is pivotally connected to a link 59, in turn con-` nected by a pin 60a to a link 60 freely mounted upon a shaft 6I.A The jshaft 6l ismounted in bearings 62securedtoaplate 63 fastened be-V neath the channel members lv l. A pawl 64 is piv- Qtalb/ mountedvupon Ythe pin amd engages@ The said rollersV ratchet Wheel 65 mounted upon the shaft 6I. A sprocket 66 is also mounted upon the shaft 6I and carries a chain 61 driving a sprocket 68 upona shaft 69. The shaft 69 is supported in bearings 10 secured to the plate 63 and carries a friction wheel 1| having a face of sponge rubber or other suitable friction material bearing against the lower surface of the lower run of the conveyor 22. A 'similar friction roller 12 is' mounted upon a shaft 13 supported on bearings 14 adjustably mounted on the channel members Il. Said roller engages the upper surface of the Vlower run of the conveyor 22 immediately Lengagingthe follower 51 through a portion of the .revolution of the cam. When this engagement occurs, the arm 58 is rocked and, through Vthe pawl and ratchet,Arotateswthevsprocket 66 through a portion of a revolution. rIfhis in turn rotates the shaft 69 and therffriction roller' 1 I and, by the frictionalengagement of the rollers 1| and 12 with the conveyor, they latter is moved a predetermined distance. When the follower 51 leaves Ythe lip 15, the pawl returns toY its ini; tial positionV due to the unbalanced weight of the lever 58. I f desired, however, av spring or similar means may be used to return the pawl toits initial position. As will ber seen particularly ,in Fig. 7,.'the lip V15 is formed with a. shoulder 16. In. the rotation of the, cam in the'directio'n of the arrow rin Fig. '7, the follower 51 reaches the shoulder 16 at the most advanced part *of its forward stroke, moving the pawl 64 tothe position Ashown inFig. 9. VUpon passing the shoulderfit immediately moves inward a slight distance, per; mitting the pawl 64 to be retracted out of en; gagementwith the driving vfaces of the teeth of the ratchet 65., `This occurs Yprior to the downward movementfof the.pressing shoe I8. Thus, at the time of the rpressing operation. there is no rigid mechanical connectionbetweenthe conL veyor and its Vprimary drivingmechanism. The lflexible conveyor thennfree'to lmove in either direction Vas itis pressed downwardly by the pressing shoe against the'resilient platen withf out danger of strain or breakage of any parts of `the machine. l

In the operation of the device, in the. manner shown in Fig. 8,' the portion 11 ofthe conveyor to' the left .of the pressing shoe i8 may be 'considered as a receiving station and theportion 18'to the right 'maybe considered as lthe delivery station.v One operator, who`may` be called operator? No. l, is positioned .as indicated atA 18 and a second operator, No. 2, is positioned as in-v dicated at 88. FA' supply of articles to be pressed is placed upon a receiving table 8| withinfcnli venient reach ofvoperator No. 1. During each pressing operation, operator No. 1 arrangesan'article 82 upon the conveyorfatthe receiving station.` Uponwthe next movement of the conveyorthe said article isrmoved beneath the pressing shoektheA conveyor `is stopped, the shoe is moved, downwardly and pressed against the arl ticleL and is then returned 4to its upper tonpermit further conveyor movement.. theasucceeding movementr of the conveyor takes place, the Vgarment just pressed Vis moved to the delivery station within reach of operator No.2, whuremoves.. .the Same. 1 Dls it 1111,01! a can:

venientreceiver, such-as atable. 83.;r A ,u Imthefpressmg. .01. maar. serments, Buches,

shirts,-two operations are required, a first press before the shirt is folded and a second press thereafter. 'In operating the machine for this class of work, a supply of unpressed shirts is placed upon the table 8 I. These shirtsare passed through the machine, received by operatorNo. 2, folded and placed upon the receiver 84 within convenient reach of operator No, 1. The said receiver 84 is preferably a table built in as part of the machine, as showninFig. 3. When a desired number of shirts have been given their rst press and have been folded and placed upon table 84, operator No. 1, without moving from her position, places the same upon the conveyor at the receiving station in groups of three or more and they are passed through the machine for` preceding cycle automatically as long as the motor y continues to operate. TheV speed of operation, therefore, does not depend primarily upon the operator but upon the set speed of the machine. At the same time, the speed `Vmay be varied by the variable speed drive to suit the requirements of the particular articles being pressed orto allow for the experience or lack of eXperience of the operators. Byuse'of lthe conveyor, it becomes unnecessary for the operator tol place her hands beneath the hot pressing plate at any time; This `gives a safety factor which makes it possible to use the fully automatic operation since it would not be safe to ope-rate the pressing shoe automatically if the operator were required to manually arrange the goodsbeneath the pressing shoe.

The machine is simple in construction and in ranging the goods. 'Ihe machine is particularly adapted for the pressing of shirts but is useful for many other purposes. In the first pressing of shirts it is desirable that the sleeves hang over the sides of the conveyor and the machine is ac cordingly arranged to provide free passage for the sleeves without danger of catching on any part of the-machine.r To this end the bearing arms I4 are formed as best shown in Fig. 3 to said arms, each of said followers engaging one of said cam surfaces, a link pivotally` connected to one of said arms and formingV therewith a toggle linkage, and connections between the opposite `end lof said link and said shoefor forcingthe latter into pressing position whensaid toggle linkage is moved substantially into alignment and for `retracting said shoe when said alignment is broken, one of said kcam surfaces being shaped to move said linkage into alignment and the other being shaped Yto subsequently break said alignment.

2. Inra pressing machine, the combination of a frame, a movable pressing shoe, a constantly ro.

tated cam disc, a vrockable member pivotally mounted on said frame and having an arm eX- tending on each'side of said cam disc, cam surfaces on the opposite sides of said disc engaging said arms'and shaped to'rock said rockable member upon its pivotal mounting, a link connected toone of said arms and forming therewithA a tog# gle linkage, connections betweenthe opposite end of ysaid link and said shoe for forcing the latter into pressing position when said rockable member .is rocked'to bring the toggle linkage substantially into alignment and to retract said shoe when said member is rocked to break said alignment.

3. In a pressing machine having a platen and a cooperating pressing shoe, the combination vof a conveyor belt passing between said platen and shoe, power means, and a driving connection between said power means and said conveyor,. said connection including a ratchet and pawl and a camoperating to move said pawl for advancing the conveyor, and said `cam being shaped to retract said pawl out of engagement with the driving faces of the teeth of the ratchet after the ad- Vance strokethereof topermit free movement of the conveyor during the pressing operation.V

LEE E. SIMON. 

